The Maiden in Crystal
by MissRedZelda
Summary: They say love is the greatest thing in the world; it either brings you glory or brings you death. In Vincent's case, it brought him death.


**Crap, this thing took ages. Mostly because it's been years since I played the damn game, but playing _Dirge of Cerberus_ brought back the memories, however faded they were. We never really knew that much about ol' Vinnie, and it was fun to play as him without that annoying Active Time bar thing that I've been tryint to block out of my memory. But, anyway, this is my first FF fic. It's sorta canon mixed with fanon, as in, some parts are taken from the game cutscenes and some others are purely imagination. Enjoy! **

The first time Vincent Valentine laid eyes on her, he knew he had fallen in love. Being a member of the Turks, he could not let such emotions take him over. But there was something about her that broke down all those barriers around his heart. Perhaps it was her long, chestnut hair that cascaded down her back in a ponytail. Perhaps it was her sparkling dark eyes. Or maybe it was her face, a face so beautiful that only the Gods could ever have sculpted it. Either way, Vincent knew there was going to be trouble, but he had ignored the feeling of premonition he felt.

Nevertheless, Vincent stood still, keeping a pure business face. "Vincent Valentine, at your service, Dr. Crescent." Simple and business-like.

She seemed to flinch at the name "Valentine". Vincent noticed it, allowing a look of confusion to show. "Is there anything wrong, Dr. Crescent?" he asked.

She shook herself out of her reverie and adopted a forced smile. "No," she replied, "it's just… the first time I've ever met anyone from the Turks." She bowed her head. "I am Lucrecia Crescent."

Vincent could tell her happy tone was forced, she was hiding something from him, but he did not let it worry him. If he was to be her bodyguard, he must not let personal feelings get in the way.

* * *

She amazed Vincent every time, even though he had been visiting her nearly every day now. Lucrecia looked as if she had not aged a day since she had encased herself in the mako crystals of the Crystal Cave, her face held a peaceful expression that entranced Vincent, making any other thoughts he had slowly vanish.

_Hello, Lucrecia_, he greeted her. _I had a dream about you last night. It was when we first met. Do you remember?_

If she had heard him, she gave no sign of it; her peaceful expression remained intact like the rest of her. The Mako Crystals that encased her body had preserved her so perfectly; it was almost as if she were stuck in time, just like Vincent.

_I…_ her reply was hesitant, hasty. As if she was thinking. _I… remember… Vincent?_

_Yes, Lucrecia, I'm here._ His face reflected off the shiny surface of the Mako Crystals, pale skin, long, untidy black, glowing red eyes, and a long, crimson red cloak. An almost vampire-like appearance. Quite a different appearance than what he looked like many years ago.

All around him, the Mako Crystals gave off an eerie blue hue, turning Vincent's already pale complexion pallid. 

_I'm so sorry_. Lucrecia's voice was now no more than a whisper.

Vincent smiled softly. _No, it is I that should be sorry. _

_**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -** _

"Vincent? Vincent Valentine, are you sleeping again?"

The young man slowly opened his eyes to find himself under the cherry blossom tree that grew out in the courtyard of the Shin-Ra mansion, he had to raise his hand to shield them as the sun glared strongly at him. Squinting, he saw a head eclipsing the sun. The face was covered by a silhouette, but her chestnut brown hair shone golden in the sun.

The woman giggled softly. The young Vincent smiled as he recognised the giggle; he would know her laugh anywhere.

"Vincent Valentine, how can you be my bodyguard if you fall sleep on the job?" she asked with a smile that made Vincent return in kind.

"I'm sorry Ms Crescent," he replied with a smile.

Lucrecia giggled softly again. "How many times have I asked you to call me Lucrecia?" she asked jokingly.

Vincent smiled. "At least once more, Ms Crescent."

This caused Lucrecia to break out into a fit of giggles. Vincent smiled again and let out a small chuckle. The laughed together among the falling cherry blossom petals, they fell like little pink and white raindrops. 

Lucrecia was the first to recover. "Oh, Vincent, I have a request to make."

"What would that be, Lucrecia?"

She then glanced at him with an amused smile. "You called me Lucrecia," she said.

Vincent glanced down trying to hide his red tint; his thick black hair did well to hide it. "Well, it is a very pretty name…"

She giggled again; it was music to Vincent's ears.

"Well then, Mr. Valentine, I request that you join me on a picnic," Lucrecia said.

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "A picnic?"

She nodded. "Yes, a picnic." She held out the basket as proof. "You will join, right?"

Vincent had long found it was impossible for him to refuse her. He forced a content smile. "Of course."

* * *

Vincent never did know a lot about Lucrecia's past, to be frank; he did not know a thing about her past acquaintances. He never would have guessed that she had formed a close relationship with his father, Grimoire Valentine. 

"Lucrecia?" 

Vincent entered her lab, calling for her. He had been looking for her all afternoon. Being her bodyguard, he had to know where she was from time-to-time, and he never did feel she was safe if he was not somewhere close by her. She was almost becoming the only thought in his mind, his dreams, his heart… she was becoming his only obsession…

"Lucrecia!" he called again. Strange, she was usually always in her laboratory…

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye… something on her work desk… Her work desk was, as always, neat a tidy and without a speck of dust. Every piece of paper was in alphabetical order and all her stationary was neatly presented like the serious scientist that she was. Her computer was on stand-by, since she was always working on her "thesis" that she never talked about with anyone. Whenever Vincent brought it up during one of their many private conversations, she would either stop talking or change the subject completely. 

But none of those things was the reason why he was drawn to work desk, it was because of something sticking out of one of the bottom draws on her desk. Vincent slowly made his way over to the curious object peeking out the draw. He recognised it as a photograph, an old one by way it was coloured, and the way it was frayed around the edges. But the biggest shock was who was in the photograph. Lucrecia was in it, and she was beaming brightly, as if she had made the greatest discovery the Planet had ever seen and she was the one who discovered it. But there was someone else in the photograph as well, a man, a man more than twice Lucrecia's age. His hair was a cloud of dark locks and his eyes were a supernatural red. Lucrecia was quite a bit shorter than this man so she had had to stretch her arm up place it on his shoulder. The man was like an older version of Vincent, and it was clear to Vincent why familiarity rushed through him the longer he stared at the man. It was Grimoire Valentine, Vincent's deceased father.

"Vincent?"

Lucrecia's voice startled Vincent, so much so that he dropped the photograph in his shock. The piece of paper slowed flouted until it finally landed right near Lucrecia's feet. She slowly bent over, picked it up, and her eyes widened. "V-v-v-vi-n…cent?"

"Lucrecia." Carefully, he stepped over to her and held her shoulders. "Lucrecia, why didn't you tell me you worked for my father?" he asked calmly.

She shook all over and clinched her fist to tightly that the photograph creased and her knuckles turned white. "I-I-I-"

"Lucrecia, I'm not mad at you, I'm just-"

She cut him off in mid sentence. "No, Vincent, you can't say that! You just can't!" Tears were streaming down her face.

He took hold of her shoulders firmly, but gently, just so he could steady her. "Lucrecia, what are you talking abou-"

She cut him off again. "No, Vincent, you can't say that! You can never say that!" She wrenched herself out of his grip. "You can never say you're not mad at me! You don't know what I did!"

She turned and ran, leaving behind a baffled and hurt Vincent and the heavily damaged photograph on the spot where she had stood.

* * *

"_So you've finally come to your senses and chose me?"_

"_Yes, doctor."_

Vincent hardly ever saw Lucrecia after the confrontation in her laboratory, not that he wanted to see her all lovey-dovey with Dr Hojo. But, she seemed happy to be with someone who understands her work. As far as Vincent Valentine was concerned, as long as she was happy, he was happy, right?

* * *

Vincent thought he saw her move slightly, but dismissed it as his imagination. She was encased entirely in Mako Crystals, neither dead nor alive, but somehow stuck in between. She'll never be able to return to the Planet, nor walk the Planet's surface again.

Vincent never had a time plan for when he came to visit her, sometimes he would spend all day sitting on the exact same spot telepathically talking to her. Replies were rare, but he cherished every one of them as if they were irreplaceable treasures.

He remembered all the times they spent together, the many times they spent alone, when they were free to be the lovers that they were. He always knew she was hiding something, a terrible secret, but he never forced it out of her, he never had the heart to, even though he was a member of the Turks.

_Do you ever think about the past, Lucrecia? _

Once again, he thought he saw a flicker of a movement, and once again he dismissed it as a trick of the eerie Mako hue. 

He did not expect her to reply, but she did. _Vincent… I… remember…you, me…_

Another movement, Vincent saw, a small smile. This time, he knew it wasn't his imagination.

* * *

Dr Hojo had a reputation for being a bit of a madman. His experiments were often frowned upon, and his reckless ways attracted the wrong kind of attention. But none of that ever worried him. He never stopped at anything to get what he wanted. In the past, he used to trail Lucrecia around like a hawk did to it's prey, until Vincent came along, then he started to leave her alone, sort of. Dr Hojo still took any opportunity he got to try and sway Dr Lucrecia Crescent over to his side.

The only difference now was that he had finally succeeded.

And his new idea for an experiment did not appeal to Vincent Valentine in the slightest.

"Are you sure about this?" he demanded. His gaze bounced between Dr Hojo and Lucrecia. He did not want to believe what he was hearing.

"Who are you to judge us about our decisions?" Dr Hojo sneered. "We, boy, are _scientists_, unlike you. It is a shame you never followed in the footsteps of your father. You could have been great."

Vincent felt a sudden fury ignite in him as he saw where Dr Hojo suddenly groped Lucrecia. She probably saw the fury in his crimson eyes, as she quickly brushed Dr Hojo's hand off of her.

"You mean become a madman like you," Vincent replied darkly.

Dr Hojo suddenly shot up from his seat, the screech of his chair echoing around his small office. "What are you implying, boy?"

Vincent turned his attention to Lucrecia, who stood quietly at the sidelines, not wanting any part of whatever battle that was going to erupt between the mad scientist and the young man. "Lucrecia, using your own child… as part of an experiment…"

She tried to adopt a serious expression, but Vincent could see right through her act. "Yes… so, what do you have to say about it?" Her voice was shaky.

"Well…" he tried to find the words to tell her, but all he could think of were along the lines of, 'are you crazy?' or, 'has Hojo pushed you into this?'. None of them seemed appropriate. "Lucrecia… are you sure?"

Remorse seemed to be the key word, but not easily detectable. "Am I sure? _Am I sure?_" A small tear trickled down her cheek. "If it only concerns me, then yes, I'm sure. It's something that you would never understand, Vincent Valentine."

It was something Lucrecia never fully understood either, as she found out later on.

* * *

It was funny how things all turned out. Lucrecia's choices had changed Vincent's future, and she had tried to fix the damage, changing hers in the process. Ironic how things work like dominos?

Lucrecia had been Vincent's first and only love, yet, she had also been the one who had tried to save his life when Hojo had shot him in the stomach. Would it have been better if he had died? Was the only reason that Lucrecia had tried to save him was because she was still guilty over witnessing his father's death? Or was it because she genuinely loved him and had all along?

He remembered what had happened to her after the experiment. She had been injected with Jenova cells, which meant that she was now just like Vincent, unable to age and die. She had been fully aware of the risks and the consequences, but she went along with it anyway. Vincent had suspected that Dr Hojo had been somehow influencing her, but he never confronted Hojo about it. 

Vincent objected to the experiment, always saying that humans are not to be experimented on. Unfortunately, the argument ended up with Hojo shooting and killing Vincent. Then, experiments on him followed, sealing his fate, making him what he is today.

_Vincent… I_. 

Vincent was slightly startled; it was the first time she had spoken to him directly. He leaned forward slightly, not wanting to miss a word.

_Vincent… I always… loved-_

It was his turn to interrupt her. _You don't have to say it, Lucrecia, I know and I understand. You are not responsible for my "Death" or my transformation, or what happened to Sephiroth, for he is now dead. _

She did not reply straight away. _I loved you with all my heart, Vincent._

_I loved you to, and I still do. _

Slowly, the gunslinger rose to his feet, and walked out of the Crystal Cave. He looked back at her one last time, and saw a tear run down her face. He touched his cheek, and felt a single tear run down his cheek. 

_Always, Lucrecia. _

**A fair amount of research was needed for this, if I've got the location of the Crystal Caves wrong, please inform me. But remember, it's been years since I've played FFVII so I'm a little rusty on the details (Plus my stupid PS1 is refusing to work. Peice of crap...). Anyway, I'm proud of this little peice of writing, by far the longest one-shot I've written. So, yes, I believe I've done well. R&R.**

**_Tsukikage1213_**


End file.
